He certainly would have been good with his talent as would nadal but you have to consider that the talent pool in soccer is way larger. A tennis career from age 5-18 costs more than half a million dollars (coaches, travel...) so it is still a rich mens sport.

and we all know that most superior athletes come from a poor background (like all the runners, basketball and football players...). this is because there are more of them but also because they have more need to succeed. probably there are a lot of soccer players out there who would have the talent to be better tennis players then fed and nadal.

Maybe fed would have been as good as messi but the chance is equally high that he would only be a bench striker in some first league club. I'm not sure if his speed is enough to be as good as messi or ronaldo. he is super quick and moves great but we would need to see how fast he is in a 60 feet sprint.

Federer can be a great soccer player but to expect him to be as great as Messi is highly unlikely, let alone better. And Messi wouldn't be a great tennis player(too small) had he chose to play tennis. They both are great in their own sport, however, Federer is more dominant in tennis than Messi is in soccer. Very few athletes were more dominant than Federer(ie Gretzky, Rice)

Given how tennis is a completely irrelevant and minuscule sport compared to football, being the best football player of a single generation (which Messi is of this current generation) is probably more impressive than being the greatest tennis player of all-time (which Federer has a very strong claim of being).

The number of active professional football players nowadays alone is much, much greater than the number of amateur or professional players in tennis history.

Federer is more dominant in tennis than Messi is in soccer. Very few athletes were more dominant than Federer(ie Gretzky, Rice)

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Messi is destroying records every match he plays and is only 25. It's impossible to compare because one is a team sport and the other is individual, but Messi is as dominant or more than Federer. Both are one of the most dominant in history though (with Jack Nicklaus, Kelly Slater, Michael Jordan, etc)

Is Messi undisputably the best. I thought many also believed Cristiano Ronaldo was. I have seen both play but dont follow much European football anymore.

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Both incredibly talented and heads and shoulders above anyone else currently. Messi's achieved more, but he's on the stronger team and scores a bit more and assists more. He's really good at what he does (Godly dribbling past defenders), but in terms of completeness I got to go with Ronaldo. In terms of the whole package he's up there. Overall though I think they are equal.

If Federer chose soccer over tennis at the age of 8 it's just as likely that he'd be a decent accountant at this age as it is that he'd be a serviceable professional soccer player, much less one of the best.

If Federer chose soccer over tennis at the age of 8 it's just as likely that he'd be a decent accountant at this age as it is that he'd be a serviceable professional soccer player, much less one of the best.

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This. I swear a small minority of Fed fans think he's a deity and could fly if he wanted to.

The chances of Roger being a pro footballer are tiny - the chances of him being better than the best player in the world are so infinitessimally small that they might as well be zero.

As far as I'm aware, the only member of the top 4 who was anywhere near being a pro footballer was Murray, who was offered trials with Glasgow Rangers at age 14 - and it's almost certain that he wouldn't have made it as a pro footballer either.

This. I swear a small minority of Fed fans think he's a deity and could fly if he wanted to.

The chances of Roger being a pro footballer are tiny - the chances of him being better than the best player in the world are so infinitessimally small that they might as well be zero.
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Oh yeah? And what if when federer was 10, I told you that this guy will:

- be top 10.
- win 1 major.
- win 17 majors.

Can you tell me the odds on each one of those?

Federer/nadal/murray/djokovic all have very good builds for football. Ultimately we will never know but the amount of coordination/footwork needed for tennis would be handy in football.

I dont know if you watched the interview with peter schmeichel on the atp site but he said that nowadays the football coaches have realised that the best sport to do in conjunction with football is tennis and a lot of players even at the pro level are encouraged to play tennis. i know for a fact that ronaldo absolutely loves tennis.

Oh yeah? And what if when federer was 10, I told you that this guy will:

- be top 10.
- win 1 major.
- win 17 majors.

Can you tell me the odds on each one of those?

Federer/nadal/murray/djokovic all have very good builds for football. Ultimately we will never know but the amount of coordination/footwork needed for tennis would be handy in football.

I dont know if you watched the interview with peter schmeichel on the atp site but he said that nowadays the football coaches have realised that the best sport to do in conjunction with football is tennis and a lot of players even at the pro level are encouraged to play tennis. i know for a fact that ronaldo absolutely loves tennis.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZOPi0LVXbs

INB4 yanks calls it soccer.. idiots.

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Much lower than him having the aptitude for being a world class performer in tennis AND football - wouldn't you say?

I don't get what point you are trying to make in the bolded paragraph? That tennis is a good complementary sport for footballers to play? I suppose it could well be - but that has no bearing on the chances of Federer being a world class perfromer at football AND tennis.

Finally, the word soccer is an English invention, it came about to differentiate Association Football from Rugby Football - Rugger and Soccer.

This. I swear a small minority of Fed fans think he's a deity and could fly if he wanted to.

The chances of Roger being a pro footballer are tiny - the chances of him being better than the best player in the world are so infinitessimally small that they might as well be zero.

As far as I'm aware, the only member of the top 4 who was anywhere near being a pro footballer was Murray, who was offered trials with Glasgow Rangers at age 14 - and it's almost certain that he wouldn't have made it as a pro footballer either.

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What a ridiculous thread !

At first I thought it is a joke thread and I really can't believe that there are people who think that Roger can be a great soccer star as if it's just that easy. How can someone assume that just coz a guy is good in Tennis means he can play something else also.. Really silly

I never knew that Murray used to play Football. Murray playing football reminds me of Peter Crouch..

Of the topic, but I always used to like English Football. Always supported their national team. Gary Linekar, Paul Gascoigne, Alan Shearer, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, all my faves..

At first I thought it is a joke thread and I really can't believe that there are people who think that Roger can be a great soccer star as if it's just that easy. How can someone assume that just coz a guy is good in Tennis means he can play something else also.. Really silly

I never knew that Murray used to play Football. Murray playing football reminds me of Peter Crouch..

Of the topic, but I always used to like English Football. Always supported their national team. Gary Linekar, Paul Gascoigne, Alan Shearer, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, all my faves..

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All great players; Gazza is my all time favourite - makes England's under achievements in major tournaments all the more inexplicable.

One World Cup win (1998), Euro win (2000), one World Cup final (2006), what more you expect from a guy? Imagine France without him in all those tourneys

Let Messi and Ronaldo win titles for their national team first, titles as in not premier league ones, the BIG ones..

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To be fair mate, ZZ didn't win those titles on his own. ZZ was great, but Messi is greater IMO. Messi is the greatest player I've ever seen - and I'm onld enough to remember Pele in the 1970 World Cup and El Diego in the 80s.

To be fair mate, ZZ didn't win those titles on his own. ZZ was great, but Messi is greater IMO. Messi is the greatest player I've ever seen - and I'm onld enough to remember Pele in the 1970 World Cup and El Diego in the 80s.

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Oh you have seen Pele !

Messi is greater than Zidane, but Maradona ? I feel it's too much. Anyway, we can agree to disagree..

I think these two sports requires a very different set of talent to be successful. Messi playing tennis would not have been very successful, while Federer playing soccer would not have been as successful as Messi either.

Federer can be a great soccer player but to expect him to be as great as Messi is highly unlikely, let alone better. And Messi wouldn't be a great tennis player(too small) had he chose to play tennis. They both are great in their own sport, however, Federer is more dominant in tennis than Messi is in soccer. Very few athletes were more dominant than Federer(ie Gretzky, Rice)

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Fed is rightfully the GOAT in tennis and has done more than nadal, sampras or laver but I don't see him as dominant as jordan, ruth, bolt, woods or phelps were. neither of those were owned by their main rival (yes I know most were on clay but the best GOATs owned their rivals even when conditions were unfavorable-jordan won a championship while having fever).

the head to head is of course skewed by most matches being on clay so this doesn't prevent fed from being the goat but it keeps him from being one of inner circle GOATs.

Messi would have been another Ferrer or Hewitt if he chose to play tennis. You need more than just a fancy footwork to dominate tennis. Will Messi have Sampras serve or Federer forehand if he plays tennis? I doubt it. These two sports are vastly different that it is impossible to compare.

I think it's inevitable Messi will become the GOAT attacking player. In that sport I think players should be judged only amongst their positions (unfair comparison to Zidane since Messi is sort of hybrid attacking mid/striker while Zidane was a maestro, a scientist)